“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” is a unique story in many ways. There are many literary elements present throughout this story. One of these literary elements is persuasion. Persuasion can influence the behavior of a character in a story. Persuasion can also add intrigue and excitement to the plot of the story. In Flannery O’Connor’s story, she uses the literary element of persuasion to add to the plot and influence how the characters behave throughout her story. The first use of persuasion in the story is during the conversation between the grandmother and John Wesley. The grandmother argues that the family should travel to east Tennessee instead of Florida. She claims that the Misfit escaped and is on the run in Florida. She feels that if the family were to go to Florida, they could possibly …show more content…
When the family was outside the city of Toombsboro, the grandmother wakes up from her nap and tells the family about a plantation nearby. According to Robert Rea, “the grandmother mentions… an old plantation that she had visited in this neighborhood once when she was a young lady” (Rea). The grandmother continues by saying there is a story about the old plantation having a secret panel full of silver inside. After hearing this, John Wesley becomes intrigued and begs Bailey to drive to the house. He starts whining and kicks the back of Bailey’s seat repeatedly. Upon frustration, Bailey is finally persuaded to drive towards the old plantation to calm John Wesley down. In conclusion, there are many literary elements used throughout “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” Persuasion is just one of the literary elements utilized throughout this story. The use of persuasion by Flannery O’Connor adds interest to the plot and influences the way characters are portrayed throughout this story. The use of persuasion and other literary elements is also what makes “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” unique in many
As I read Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, I find myself being completely consumed by the rich tale that the author weaves; a tragic and ironic tale that concisely and precisely utilizes irony and foreshadowing with expert skill. As the story progresses, it is readily apparent that the story will end in a tragic and predictable state due to the devices which O’Connor expertly employs and thusly, I find that I cannot stop reading it; the plot grows thicker with every sentence and by doing so, the characters within the story are infinitely real in my mind’s eye. As I consider these factors, the story focuses on two main characters; that of the grandmother, who comes across as self-centered and self-serving and The Misfit, a man, who quite ingeniously, also appears to be self-centered and self-serving. It is the story behind the grandmother, however, that evidence appears to demonstrate the extreme differences between her superficial self and the true character of her persona; as the story unfolds, and proof of my thought process becomes apparently clear.
O?Connor, Flannery. ?A Good Man is Hard to Find.? Literature: An introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2002.
O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." 1955. Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay. 4th ed. Ed. Robert DiYanni. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998. 193-203.
The grandmother and grandchildren convince Bailey to take a detour down an old dirt road to see an old plantation home. "Outside of Toombsboro she woke up and recalled an old plantation that she had visited in this neighborhood once when she was a young lady"(O’Connor 15). It was called "Toombsboro" and similar to the two words "tombs" and "bury." When it's pronounced with a southern accent it becomes "Tombsbury."
Lessons are learned through mistakes and experiences, but to completely understand the lesson, a person must be smart enough to profit from their errors and be strong enough to correct them. However, this was not the case for the main character in the short story; A Good Man is Hard to Find written by Flannery O’Connor. In this tale of manipulation and deception, O’Connor depicts the main character, the grandmother, as a shrewd self-centered woman, who considers herself morally superior than the other individuals. Throughout the entire story, she is seen using her manipulative tactics on everyone, which brought her to a sinister ending. O’Connor expertly portrayed the grandmother as a character that did not correct her negative characteristics throughout the story. To prove this statement, the use of time will be applied to help focus on the main idea of the grandmother not changing her deleterious ways throughout this story.
...dly evil character, The Misfit, is able to help the grandmother to find grace makes him redeemable as well. Whatever the reason was for Flannery O’Connor to write A Good Man Is Hard To Find, it will forever be one of her best works as well as one of the best and most unusual short stories of all time.
...articular particularly symbolic aspect of A Good Man is Hard to Find is the fact that O'Connor is a great deal more elusive in her interpretation than in her other works. The author relies considerably more upon intangible ideals and concepts in which to make her point, which is readily obvious by the style and tone she adopts for the story. "She had her own distinctive, totally unsparing voice, and this novella about a tough old lady and a tougher escaped convict is as black as it gets" (Anonymous 182). In one way, she is trying to encourage both her readers and her characters to take control of their lives, to become empowered by the very events that serve to break down the people in her tale. Yet in another way, she recognizes the fact that people will always be the way they are, and nothing that anyone can say or do will ultimately save them from themselves.
Douglas, Ellen. "O'Connor's 'A Good Man is Hard to Find.'" Contemporary Literature Criticism. Eds. Carolyn Riley and Phyllis Carmel Mendelson. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1976. Vol. 6. 381.
Flannery O’Connor is a master of the ironic, the twisted, and the real. Life is filled with tragic irony, and she perfectly orchestrates situations which demonstrate this to the fullest extent. A Good Man is Hard to Find is an excellent example of the mangled viewpoint which makes her work as compelling and striking as it is.
Elmore Leonard once said “I don’t judge in my books. I don’t have the antagonist get shot or the protagonist win. It’s just how it comes out. I’m just telling a story.” “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, written by Flannery O'Connor, is one of the most interesting stories that we have read in this class. The protagonist in this story is the grandmother and the antagonist is The Misfit. In any other short story, the protagonist and the antagonist would not have much in common, but that is not the case in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”. The three major similarities between the grandmother and The Misfit is that they are both the oldest one in their groups, they are both hypocrites, and they both are missing important spiritual relationships.
In A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Flannery O’Connor utilizes foreshadowing, characters and symbolism to impart her lesson of mortality and salvation. We are able to observe minor details within the story through these academic instruments, urging the reader continue on to see how the story will come to conclusion. The knowledge that evil exists in the world, and that stories like this are not uncommon, brings to mind thoughts of my own mortality and salvation. Does this accidental meeting with the grandmother and her family lead to a personal and spiritual growth for The Misfit? The ability to recognize and apply literary tools when reading stories can greatly enhance a reader’s overall
The story begins with the grandmother trying to persuade the family not to travel towards Florida but perhaps go to Tennessee instead. This is based on the grounds that “the Misfit”, a escaped criminal is on the loose somewhere in Florida. The Ironic part of this is that the grandmother is the only family member to conceive of bad things happening to the family. She bases this solely on the fact that they were traveling in the same direction as the Misfit. This negative thinking quite possibly could have led to the eventual rendezvous between the convict and the family.
In Flannery O 'Connor 's short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, the theme of good vs. evil unravels throughout the series of tragic events. The Grandmother’s epiphany introduces the idea of morality and the validity is left to the interpretation of the reader. By questioning the characteristics of right and wrong, morality and religion become subjective to personal reality and the idea of what makes individuals character good or bad becomes less defined.
O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." The Story and Its Writer An Introduction to Short Fiction. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2011. 1042-053. Print.
Flannery O’Connor is best known for her Southern Gothic writing style and grotesque characters. Dorothy Tuck McFarland states that “O’Connor created bizarre characters or extreme situations in order to attain deeper kinds of realism” (1). This writing style is seen in Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. Flannery O’Connor uses many techniques to gain the reader’s attention and keep them captivated. One way that O’Connor does this is by revolving her stories around symbols and integrating religious elements into her works. O’Connor is widely recognized for incorporating her Catholic faith into her stories. “She was a devout Roman Catholic, with a Southern upbringing” (Whitt 1). There are many types of ways to interpret “A Good Man is Hard to Find”. One method is by using formalist criticism. Formalist criticism exists when a reader can approach, analyze, and understand a story by using elements like the setting and symbolism.